Cognition

A commercially available nutraceutical supplement composed of, among other ingredients, green tea and blueberries led to modest improvements in cognitive processing speed in older, cognitively healthy adults, according to results of a randomized, placebo-controlled trial.

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a severe neurodegenerative disease for which there is currently no effective treatment. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether repeated electroacupuncture (EA) stimulation would improve cognitive function and the pathological features of AD in amyloid precursor protein (APP)/presenilin 1 (PS1) double transgenic mice.

A new study exploring vitamin D levels in patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) opens up the possibility of a new avenue of early intervention that may delay or prevent the onset of cognitive impairment and depression. The findings are published in the Journal of Parkinson’s Disease.

Malnutrition is a widespread problem in elderly people and is associated with cognitive decline. However, interventional studies have produced ambiguous results. For this reason, we wanted to determine the effect of micronutrient supplementation on blood and tissue levels and on general nutritional status in persons with mild or moderate cognitive impairment.

A human clinical study of older adults has demonstrated that participants who took NutraStem Cardio®, a natural dietary supplement created by Natura Therapeutics, Inc., showed a significant increase in cognition when compared to age-matched individuals taking a placebo. Cognition includes processes such as attention, decision making, and memory.

In vitro antioxidant activities and neuron-like PC12 cell protective effects of solvent fractions from aged garlic extracts were investigated to evaluate their anti-amnesic functions. Ethyl acetate fractions of aged garlic had higher total phenolics than other fractions.

Carol L. Cheatham, PhD, developmental cognitive neuroscientist with the UNC Chapel Hill Nutrition Research Institute (NRI) at the NC Research Campus, has research findings that prove just how critical fatty acids are to the cognitive development and cognitive functioning of infants, toddlers and young children.

Blood concentrations of some antioxidative micronutrients were positively associated with executive function and visuopractical skills, researchers reported here. Among healthy patients, plasma concentrations of non-provitamin A were positively and significantly associated with executive function, before and after adjustment for body mass index (BMI), smoking status, diabetes, hypertension, and cardiac disease (Beta=0.086, P<0.05), according to Abhijit Sen, MSc, of the Medical University Graz in Austria, and colleagues.

Natural health enthusiasts have known for years that a fresh brewed cup of green tea provides an antioxidant punch that lowers the risk of developing many deadly lines of cancer, lowers the risk of developing dementia and can even boost metabolism to assist weight loss efforts. Those same health-minded individuals may not know that the super nutrients known as catechins found in green tea also help increase memory recall and cognitive abilities.